Into The Night
by WhisperElmwood
Summary: Sakura  now twentyone and ANBU  is taken on her first Assassination, with Kakashi as her backup. She knew this would take her last vestiges of innocence, but didn't realise quite how... KakaSaku multichap
1. Preperation

**Into The Night**

It begins to rain as they stop to check their equipment.

At the moment, its light, only a smattering of drops pattering half-heartedly against the canvas of their bags. Droplets of water run together and form minute puddles in the dips and grooves of the weapon and provision laden bags, before the pools become too heavy, too full, and spill in rivulets down the sides to dampen the hard-packed earth into submission.

Sakura shades her eyes with one black gloved hand and looks up at the grey sky. She knows this kind of rain well. It's just settling in, building up, in a matter of hours, it'll be a torrential downpour, replenishing the hard baked summer earth.

Sighing, she pulls her bag to her and re-checks all her equipment.

Weapons – check. Food – check. Medic-kit – check. Canvas – check. Rope – check. Civilian clothing – check. Cooking utensils – check.

Everything is in its place and accounted for. She tightly closes her pack, putting it to one side. She checks her on-body equipment.

Armour – check. Mask – check. Hidden weapons (she lightly brushes each in turn, with strong, deft fingers) – check. Thigh-pouch – check. Tanto – check. Tonfa (loosely strapped to her back, within easy reach, her fingers linger over these, almost caressing them) – check.

She leans back against the tree. Physically, she's ready. She's had the training – years of that, since she was a child really – she's got the weapons, the poisons. She's practiced – for weeks before taking the mission, Tsunade-Shishou forced her to practice and practice hard, to train herself for the chance of such a mission.

But emotionally – she's still not quite ready. Or she likes to think she isn't. At twenty-one, Sakura has seen her fair share of death and mayhem, no more nor less than every other Kunoichi of her generation (though, perhaps a little more, considering who her teams mates were as Gennin and Chuunin) but she likes to think she's been able to keep a small part of her innocence intact.

This mission, she believes, will eradicate what little innocence she has left.

She looks to her team-mate, silently watches as he checks his own equipment, going through the same controlled, silent actions as she had. There is a certain grace to the unhurried, almost languid movements of his body. Sakura can't help but notice them. In fact, she had been noticing for a number of years.

Kakashi looks to her, eyebrow raised in question, as he finishes checking his equipment. The scant moonlight, visible only as the clouds thin, catches on his tightly-bound silver hair, turning it white as snow for a moment. He does not wear his hitai-ite on this mission – instead, it is replaced with a lighter eye-patch, something he can remove quickly if needs-be.

She shrugs and picks up her bag, strapping it to her hip. After a moment of silent contemplation, he follows suit and they both stand.

Sakura pulls a hood up and over her distinctive hair – it's braided tight against her scalp tonight, aiding in its concealment – there are to be no distinguishing marks, no village-identifications, nothing to mark them out as who they are or where they come from on this mission. The hood is scratchy – she's not used to wearing them – and snap-locks onto small hooks under her chin, holding it in place.

As she picks up her mask – a bear, to match her strength, with green swirls to match her eyes – Kakashi brushes his gloved fingers against her bare shoulder, silently asking if she's ready. She nods, a determined look crossing her features and then ties her mask in place.

For a moment, Kakashi looks at her, nothing showing in his eye, his features, but he nods in return and places his own mask – a dog, much like his own pack – over his face.

Sakura steals herself for her first assassination and the rain begins to fall harder, rivulets caressing the porcelain features of her mask, almost like tears.


	2. Beginnings

**Into The Night**

Chapter 02

They work in complete silence. Sakura leads. After all, it's her mission, Kakashi is simply her back-up (and examiner – but she refuses to think on that.)

Her first kill of the night is a young guard, a boy no more than eighteen, his eyes keener than she would have wished. He saw her and had to die, simple as that. His neck breaks quickly, almost silently, under her strength and she carries him to the roof, hiding his body from view.

They move deeper into the compound, bypassing many more guards, all of them young – younger than Sakura. From the mission details, she knows this is one of the reasons the Mark has to die. The word 'paedophile' hangs in the forefront of her mind, willing her on, hardening her heart against what has to be done.

They move silently through a room of sleeping children, her heart beating faster at the sight, and she stumbles at the exit. Kakashi grabs her arm to stop her fall, and his mask turns to hers. She can feel the unspoken question, '_are you alright?_' in the silence as they stare at each other.

She shakes his hand off and they continue their hunt.

Two more guards have to die on the way – not through fault, but because they stand in the way and there is nothing else she can do. She makes it swift and causes no pain – as a medic, she knows how – hiding their bodies before moving on.

After a short while, her body takes over, muscles memory moving her forward, and her mind drifts. _Kakashi's fingers on her bare skin, his gloves damp with the new rain._ His touch gave her pause, he hadn't touched her since she was a child, not unless he had too.

She knew why. As his student, as a girl, it could have been deemed inappropriate – and despite his lackadaisical ways, he still paid attention to those kinds of rules. Even when she reached woman-hood, he had still kept his distance, contact happening only when forced, by herself or circumstances outside their control.

Her shoulder, where he had touched her, now burned with the sensory imprint of his fingers, the gentle, hesitant pressure.

Another guard died and she knew they were getting closer to their goal.

They turn a corner and pause. Missing-Nin. Not Bingo-Book material, but enough to make them both worry. _If he has Missing-Nin as his guards, what are the chances he has Bingo-Book members as well?_ They are Rock and Sand ninja. Sakura has enough knowledge of both that she feels confident.

Kakashi goes left, after Sand; Sakura heads right, after Rock.

The silence is broken as the Rock-Nin collapses a wall, his earth-shattering jutsu probably waking the whole compound. Sakura feels anger trying to take hold of her, but pushes the emotion back. ANBU feel nothing.

The chunk of ceiling aimed for her head is nothing, her padded fist shatters it to dust and she launches herself at the Rock-Nin. His skin hardens an instant before her fist connects. She still manages to send him through a wall.

Sakura pulls her Tonfa – specially made for her alone, an alloy created to withstand her incredible strength – and he dies. She wipes the metal on his body, clearing it of blood and turns to find Kakashi watching her.

They regroup and continue on their way. The Mark will be harder to find now, the compound has been alerted to intruders. More young guards die and as she slices the throat of a girl no older than Hinata's younger sister, Sakura finds her mind drifting once again to the _touch_.

The compound is littered with bodies by now. Not a word has passed her lips since entering, but she can feel them pressing against her teeth. She wants to scream. She wants to weep. She has killed children here tonight and she wishes, silently and deeply hidden in her heart, that she was no Kunoichi, but just a civilian like her parents.

But she continues on. This must be done and it must be done tonight.

She finds her Mark.

He is standing in his room, dressed only in yukata, a child clutched to his chest in mockery of the paternal embrace. The child is no more than four, gender indeterminate, naked. Crying. He holds a Wakazashi to the child's throat, falsely believing that this will deter her from her mission.

She pauses and he sneers, obviously believing she is about to give in. In a matter of seconds, she is behind him. She grabs his wrist in one hand and crushes it, his bones and flesh turning to so much bloody pulp. The Wakazashi hits the floor and she breaks his neck.

The child has started sobbing by the time Kakashi enters the doorway. Sakura has wrapped it in a blanket pulled from the bed.

He takes a step forward and the senbon miss him by mere inches. They do not miss Sakura.

Before she even knows what has happened, a new Missing-Nin has entered the room, from a hidden door behind her. She turns her head and recognises him – this one is Bingo-Book material. The Village Hidden in Mist lost this one two years ago. He was their best Medic – thus their best Poison expert.

She pulls the senbon from her throat and shoulder, throwing them to the floor, away from the child. She blinks, feeling something crawl through her veins, but nothing she recognises.

Kakashi destroys his disguise, but it doesn't matter, as he pulls Chidori and the Missing-Nin is dead. Sakura blinks again, there is something off about Kakashi's body-language. He was far too rash in revealing his most well-known technique, and there is still something in his stride as he pulls her to her feet.

The silence is broken, "Are you alright?"


	3. The Sound Of Rain

**Into The Night**

Chapter 03

The fight to get back out again is horrendous.

Sakura can feel the poison working its way through her body now, leeching her of her strength, her concentration, even her coordination. She stumbles and for a moment, cannot see Kakashi.

As she struggles to her feet, one hand clamped to her throat, using pressure to ease the pain, another Missing-Nin arrives. He spots her before she can react and she suddenly sports shuriken in her right thigh. This new pain simply adds to the crescendo, beating behind her temples. She clenches her fist and draws kunai.

Sakura manages to hold him off for fully thirty seconds before his fist connects with her solar-plexus. She staggers, winded, to her knees, choking, coughing, her neck bared to him invitingly, unwittingly.

As his swords bares down on her, she pulls her last strength and blocks, her forearm shattering under his combined weight and thrust. Finally, her self imposed silence is broken, her anguished cry rising through the compound. Adrenaline surges her forward, kunai finding his heart.

Kakashi is by her side in a moment, lifting her to her feet and pulling her onward. She cradles her arm, but moves as fast as she can, bloodied kunai still gripped tight in her left fist. As he tries to coax her onto the roof, that is when she realises the full scope of the poison – her chakra is gone. There is nothing she can do, her chakra store is tiny and plummeting still – she can barely walk, let alone leap to a roof.

The only way out of the compound is through the now alert guards – Kakashi cannot carry her and she cannot climb. Stealing herself against the pain, Sakura readies herself to fight.

And fight she does. Even in her near-helpless condition, one broken arm and three seeping wounds to her thigh, she still fights. She still knows the weak-points on a persons body, still knows her katta. She's weak, but not yet defeated and guard after guard goes down before her.

Kakashi's sword sings as they move, slicing limbs and torsos. She is glad for his presence now; his methodical movement is a comfort. If she stumbles, he barely breaks form to catch and right her; if her foe is too much, he steps in and clears the way. That is, until more Missing-Nin appear.

No Bingo-Book members, but sufficient to send chills down her spine. On any other day, she would square up and beat them seven ways from Sunday, but not now. Now she has an unknown, chakra sapping poison coursing her veins and she is forced to rely on Kakashi.

She crouches down, holding her wounds, as Kakashi steps forward. In seconds, the battle begins. She finds his eye-patch fluttering to the floor beside her, enforcing how difficult the situation has become. She grits her teeth – she hates being a liability. She hates having to rely on other people for help or protection.

Sakura pulls concealed weapons from various hiding places on her body, shurriken, senbon, kunai and she begins to pick off the remaining non-ninja guards around them. Her aim is not true, she misses more than she aught – but enough are killed for the rest to flee.

Slumping a little with the effort, Sakura does not notice a shadowed form to her side. Not before he has grabbed her good arm. She kicks out, but he simply dodges, slamming her upright against the wall. The breath is knocked from her lungs again and she can't help the pained gasp from escaping her lips.

He grins at her, leering and she finds herself dragged away from Kakashi. He hasn't even noticed. She struggles against her enemy, but he simply laughs, she is too weak now to be of concern to anyone. Two of her fingers break in the strain, the sick crunching sound reverberating through her whole body. Tears of pain and frustration slide from her eyes, she tastes salt on her lips. In a last ditch attempt, as he pushes her up against a wall, hand shifting to pull away her mask, she knees him in the groin.

She feels something break against her knee-cap. The man goes cross-eyed, jerking his hands to his crushed manhood; she drops to the floor and hacks at his heels with her bloody kunai, trying to hamstring him. The blood is too slick, her fingers too painful and she causes only minor damage before crawling away from the groaning, whimpering man.

Kakashi's body language is frantic when she finally crawls back into the open. The Missing-Nin are dead, there are no guards left. Apparently, her new lack of chakra makes her impossible to find. He pulls her to her feet once again, his body language suggesting he wants to do more, before pulling her good arm over his shoulders and half-carrying her the rest of the way from the compound.

She had been right about the rain. It is a torrential downpour when they finally leave the building. It masks the sounds of their movement and hides any traces of their footprints. She feels, for a moment, that the rain is her ally against the repugnance of the mission. But only for a moment, before the water seeps into her uniform, chilling her clammy skin.

Sakura is left shivering, clinging to her team-mate, for warmth as much as support.

Kakashi doesn't stop until they are miles away from the compound, so far into a near-by forest that no-one but the most elite of ANBU could find them in the storm. When they stop, Sakura realises she is crying, almost sobbing, heaving with the effort to draw breath into her lungs.

Kakashi props her against the thick trunk of a tree and pulls the canvas and rope from her bag, as well as his own. In a matter of minutes, he has created a sheltered space to keep out the rain and the wind, hidden between two trees and under a large bush.

Gently, slowly, he takes her weight and sits them down in the dry space. He strips off his gloves, unwrapping the bandages and unclipping the armour in quick practiced movements. Their porcelain masks are dropped uncaringly to the floor and he strips her own gloves and armour from her.

Sakura barely even flinches as he pulls her sodden top over her head, her breasts goose-pimpled in the cold, despite the bindings. He inspects the senbon wounds to her throat and shoulder, but shakes his head; there is nothing he can do at the moment.

Next, he moves to her ribs, checking for breaks. Luckily, she is only bruised – it hurts like hell, but there is little a non-medic can do for ribs anyway.

Taking her arm gently in his hand, he inspects the broken bone. It hasn't broken skin, but she knows it has shattered inside. And her two fore-fingers have been broken in three places due to her struggling. He leaves the canvas for a moment and returns with scrounged solid twigs and a branch. Using the bindings from their gloves, he sets her fingers tightly and then tackles her arm.

At this point, she starts to laugh. She doesn't know why – only that she can't stop. It hurts her ribs, pulls against her broken bones, reopens the slowly scabbing wounds on her thigh. All the added pain and the fact that she's still crying, just serve to make her laugh more. And she can't stop.

Through her sobs and her laughter, she can tell Kakashi is worried. He's watching her with his eye, concern etched into every visible line of his face (he still wears that stupid half-mask; she's never seen his face). When he sets her arm, she cries out and he pulls her to his chest. She doesn't have the energy to protest, and he's so _warm _that she presses herself to him, still sobbing and brokenly laughing.

He unhooks her hood, pushes it back off her tightly bound hair and with one arm wrapped around her, strokes her head with his free hand. Unable to stop her sobs or laughter, she simply lets him, curled into his embrace. After a while, her laughter ceases and her sobs quieten enough for her to realise she is shivering uncontrollably. Kakashi notices and pulls a rolled blanket from his pack. Silently, he wraps her in it, balling her up against the cold and wraps his arms around her.

"Sleep," he whispers, "I'll watch."

Sakura nods and obediently closes her eyes, but she does not sleep for long hours. She listens to him breath, feeling his warm breath ghosting over her cheek. She listens to the rain, pattering on the canvas of their make-shift tent.

She listens to her heart, screaming at her in the darkness.


	4. Drifting

**Into The Night**

Chapter 04

Sakura swam in darkness. There were no distinguishing marks to show her where she was, just a simple stretch of black. She couldn't even see her body – she was a pair of eyes, blinking and straining to see. To see what, she wasn't really sure.

After a while, there was a sense of movement. _Breathing_, she was breathing. She allowed the feeling to wash over her senses, assessing herself – her breathing was a little laboured – perhaps a broken rib? Maybe just bruised, that made it hard to breath sometimes.

Slowly, sound began to make its way through to her. First was her breathing again – and now she could hear how laboured her breathing was – a slight rattle to each breath that betrayed weakened lungs.

That caused her pause – a possible broken rib and laboured breathing? Something had gone wrong. And now she could feel herself shivering and the cold that was seeping into her skin. A pattering made itself known and she realised she could hear rain, striking almost rhythmically against canvas. It sounded heavy. It was probably the source of her chill, as well as the rattling in her lungs.

If only she could _move _and hear and see.

There was a low murmuring some distance away – indeterminate, because her hearing was still muffled. It slowly coalesced into a voice she knew. A low, gentle, unhurried, male voice. She felt her lips try to pull into a smile, but something hurt there and she stopped.

The voice slowly became clearer and she realised he wasn't talking to her, but to someone else – someone who spoke much more quietly, in a far gruffer voice.

"…don't know how long it'll take to get back…"

"…should I tell her?"

"…week, as the civilian travels…find medic…may die…not willing…"

Die? Someone was dying?

She forced herself to move, a weak groan escaping her lips as she did. Everything ached. As her senses came back to her, she could feel everything again and there was a white-hot pain thumping inside her head. Her right arm was throbbing; her left forefingers ached with sharp jabbing pains, her jaw felt bruised, her ribs felt broken, her throat swollen, her right thigh felt stiff and all her joints ached as if she were ninety years old and suffering arthritis.

Maybe it was herself who was dying? She certainly felt like it.

Movement behind her made her jerk, her eyes opening as she reacted. She cried out in pain as the harsh morning light hit her, causing her more pain as her body tried to react with its usual reflexes.

In a moment Kakashi was holding her, quietly telling her to settle back down again, to rest. At this moment her memory decided to return and she realised what was wrong with her, why she felt to awful. She relented and allowed Kakashi to push her back down and pull the blanket back up to her chin. She didn't open her eyes again.

After a moment she realised the second voice was Pakkun, Kakashi's pack-leader Nin-Dog. Apparently her condition made it necessary for Kakashi to send a message ahead of them. She supposed she should worry more, but the pain in her head forced the concern aside.

She slept again.

When she awoke the second time, she was being held in strong arms, movement jostling her painfully. Carefully, tentatively, she opened her eyes to see what was going on.

She looked straight into Kakashi's shirt – her nose was buried in the folds and she could smell him. Damp, a hint of sweat and there, underneath it, his own masculine scent, traces of it swimming through her senses. Closing her eyes again, she turned her head. She was being carried bridal-style, wrapped tightly in the blanket. Neither of them was wearing their ANBU uniforms, so Kakashi must have changed her into her civilian clothes as she slept. The thought was slightly disconcerting.

Kakashi stopped when she stirred, pausing for a moment, before checking the surrounding area and then moving off the path and into the trees. He set her down gently against a sturdy trunk and pulled some food from his bag.

"Here. You need the energy."

Careful of her wounds and still feeling remarkably weak, Sakura took the offered food. As she ate, Kakashi checked his bag, then her own, before pulling out her medic-kit.

"Your wounds aren't healing." He whispered; no trace of his usual light-heartedness in his voice, "Something to do with the poison in your system."

Sakura nodded. It wasn't unheard of – anything that sapped a person of their chakra often had such side-effects. The less chakra, the less able a body was to heal itself.

As they took a few minutes to rest, Sakura closed her eyes and turned her face to the sun. The rain had passed sometime during her sleep and the forest now felt more like the one around Konoha. The rain had filled the air with a fresh scent of damp trees, decaying leaves, even a few late-summer blooms. The scent was calming and the sound of the wind passing through the leaves above her, even more so. She felt almost at home.

Listening to the creak and groan of the higher branches, the swishing of the leaves and the faint calls of birds in the distance, Sakura nearly dropped off again. She started, clenching her teeth against a cry of pain at the movement, when fingers brushed her cheek. Kakashi regarded her solemnly with his one open eye, before brushing a damp cloth against the senbon marks on her swollen throat.

The tiny marks stung horrendously, disproportionately to their size. She frowned and ground her teeth against the pain, unwilling to be a troublesome patient.

Kakashi lowered his eyes from hers and whispered, "Sakura, I don't know what to do."

And that was the crux of the problem. Kakashi was no Healer, he didn't have the necessary training, certainly nothing beyond basic field medical and it was clear to her that she needed a professional. If it had been the other way around, she could have healed Kakashi in a moment.

With a sigh she closed her eyes against the pain, the worry. "Find a healer."

When she next woke, the pain was gone, but her entire body was numb. A bad sign. Kakashi was carrying her again, bridal style still. She was wrapped in both their blankets, which must mean her body was chilled – another bad sign. She turned her head slightly, burying her face in his chest, breathing in his scent.

Kakashi kept moving, his steps careful, measured, but quick. His body was tense, his breathing slightly laboured. He must have been walking for hours, without rest. Her situation was that bad.

Listening carefully, she realised that they weren't alone. Opening her eyes, slitted against the sunlight, slanting low over the horizon, she realised they were in a town or city.

"Kakashi… Where..?"

He paused momentarily in his walk, looked down at her, but then continued on.

"Tiger-Well. I'll find us shelter and a Healer here." He glanced down at her again and she realised his face was covered only by a scarf, left eye firmly closed. "Don't worry, Sakura."

She nodded, trying to smile, her eyes drifting closed. She trusted him to find what they needed.

* * * *

Either she was blind, or it was dark. With the amount of pain she was in, it could go either way.

With a slight groan, Sakura turned her head and discovered she was lying on a bed. It was comfortable, warm, dry and she couldn't hear anything moving in the room, so she guessed Kakashi must have forked out for a respectable hotel.

After a moment, she realised she could hear footsteps moving her way and she focussed on the doorway across from the bed. The footsteps paused and a key shifted n the lock. Kakashi came moved quietly into the room, closing the door gently behind himself. He paused when he noticed her open eyes, watching him.

He quickly moved to her side and she shifted slightly, grimacing against the renewed pain.

"I put the word out for a Healer. One should be here with the hour, try to get back to sleep."

Sakura nodded and he carefully pulled the blanket back up over her shoulders, tucking her in snugly.

As she drifted back into the darkness, Sakura felt the fleeting brush of fingertips against her cheek, followed by softly spoken words of comfort.

* * * *

AN: Sorry it's taken so long to update - other things took precedence c.c I should be updatingthis a bit more regularly now though ^^ hope you enjoyed!


End file.
